Thursday, 15 September 2011

Finding their flow

My children stayed up too late tonight. I had no intention of letting them play and play until they were woozy with weariness but to put it simply - they had found their flow. And I just can't bear to put a stopper on that magic.

Just before their proper bedtime, when I was folding clothes fresh off the washing line, Daisy was playing with the laundry basket. She'd already done her usual turtle impression and had used it as a boat when she asked me to look at what she'd been busy doing. She'd taken the long red ribbon from her hair (she was dressed as Snow White, as you can see below) and woven it, in and out, around the laundry basket. She explained that it was ever so much fun and asked for more ribbon. And so the weaving began - to make mummy the best laundry basket in the world.

Buddy got excited enough to join in with this ribbon-play when he found one long enough to attach between a door and a dining-chair. A few knots later he'd made a fabulous zip-line he called Atlantic Bridge and pretty soon miniature Spiderman was walking along, hanging and swinging from the bridge - saving various people from the baddies.

When Daisy had finished her basket she grabbed two small Barbie-type dolls and joined in the fray. One was Wonder Woman, the other a civilian in need of rescuing, and their play exploded into a full-on adventure; Mission at Ribbon Bridge. I added some music - the main theme from the Spiderman movie - knowing that Bud in particular loves having a soundtrack enhancing any exciting action.

So I resigned myself to the late night - their playing was so brilliant. In the end, when I could see the game going on past midnight, I suggested they paused the action and continued before school tomorrow. They agreed to this only when I promised to keep the ribbon bridge in place until then. I agreed to that when Daisy said I could keep the ribbons on my beautiful laundry basket for as long as I wanted.

And so a deal was struck; I've got a super-glamorous laundry basket and the ribbon bridge survives another day. I just love it when they find their flow.

About Me

Julia, a former school teacher and theatre-in-education performer, is a freelance museum educator and creator of Adventures at Home. Previously an education officer for the BBC and the London Transport Museum with a postgraduate degree in Museum Studies, Julia now teaches hundreds of school children at the British Museum and the Geffrye Museum. It is here that she also devises and leads sessions of stories and song, dance, play and craft for preschoolers. She lives in London with her husband and has two young children of her own.
Adventures at Home is about her family's creative life - they play, sing, dance, cook, build, make and bake whenever they can.
It's a place to exchange ideas, for anyone passionate about nurturing and celebrating play and creativity.